Still trying to figure out how kyrie is starting. Dude has Cleveland at 11th and doesn't play defense.

Because too many fans are fucking stupid and don't know enough about basketball. These are the same fans that voted in Bryant and Wade when they were injured the whole bloody season. Just look back at the starters for the last 5 years, every year some undeserving player gets voted in by stupid fans.

How is Davis not elite on defence? He's leading in blocks by a mile and he's had multiple games with 7+ blocks. All this while scoring roughly 20 a game.

His mind just isn't working as quickly as his legs yet. He gets lost and confused when to help and when not to help. Reach-ins when he makes a mistake and gets beat. And he lacks lots of strength, even at PF.

He's much better than he was last year, though. He blocked a lot of shots last year as well, but I would've called him a bad defender. He was biting every pump fake. So he wasn't hard to prepare against. As the season went along he was less and less effective as a shot blocker.

This year he's much smarter with his blocks. Add his speed and quickness, he can stay in front of wings. But the mental side is still coming along. He gets by in large part on talent right now. As much as he's improved this year compared to last year, I suspect there's going to be an even bigger jump over the next couple years, on both ends of the floor.

I can't believe Stephenson isn't on the team considering it's the Pacers' coaching staff. To be fair, Lowry has been playing like this after Gay left, it's still a relatively small sample size compared to what Stephenson has done this year, even Afflalo.

I seriously don't know how Joe Johnson is on this team. I guess he's getting a little bit of an advantage because he's a bigger name and has been an all-star, but his team is not better than the Raptors and his numbers aren't as good as Lowry
I feel like the NBA made JJ get onto the roster cuz they wanted to prop up the Brooklyn Nets since they were supposed to be 1 of the better teams in the league and was really marketed the last couple of years as the next big team. I also think that Pierce and KG actually give JJ an advantage too as the NBA has some sentimental feelings about those two guys and transfer those feelings towards the next best player on their team
I might just be looking too deep into this but it makes no sense to me why he's an all-star this year

I seriously don't know how Joe Johnson is on this team. I guess he's getting a little bit of an advantage because he's a bigger name and has been an all-star, but his team is not better than the Raptors and his numbers aren't as good as Lowry
I feel like the NBA made JJ get onto the roster cuz they wanted to prop up the Brooklyn Nets since they were supposed to be 1 of the better teams in the league and was really marketed the last couple of years as the next big team. I also think that Pierce and KG actually give JJ an advantage too as the NBA has some sentimental feelings about those two guys and transfer those feelings towards the next best player on their team
I might just be looking too deep into this but it makes no sense to me why he's an all-star this year

Coaches make these choices, not NBA's marketing guys. I think most coaches simply looked at the standings, saw that the Raptors were barely above .500, and decided they deserved 1 all star. Then the Nets happened to be on a 9 game winning streak right at that time. So they gave them an all star.

I don't think coaches put that much thought into these votes. I doubt most (any?) of them look at advanced numbers, or spend hours and hours thinking and discussing who deserves it, like we do on the forum...
I think most of them keep it simple, "Raptors are around .500, 1 all star; Nets are around .500, 1 all star; Pistons, Pelicans and Kings are around .400, no all stars."

Coaches make these choices, not NBA's marketing guys. I think most coaches simply looked at the standings, saw that the Raptors were barely above .500, and decided they deserved 1 all star. Then the Nets happened to be on a 9 game winning streak right at that time. So they gave them an all star.

I don't think coaches put that much thought into these votes. I doubt most (any?) of them look at advanced numbers, or spend hours and hours thinking and discussing who deserves it, like we do on the forum...
I think most of them keep it simple, "Raptors are around .500, 1 all star; Nets are around .500, 1 all star; Pistons, Pelicans and Kings are around .400, no all stars."

exactly.... and Lance Stephenson can pile up the triple doubles all he wants, he's the third guy on his team.

We can only hope for a selected All-Star player other than DD to get injured. I thought that Vogel would get to choose the replacement, but apparently it is Silver. Hopefully he would recognize how close it was between JJ and Lowry and give Lowry the much deserved spot.